網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

a country railway station. They are perfectly passive, but I know that, with the inevitableness of an execution, the bulldog will kill the cat.

My little drama is nearly concluded. In the following dream I see the supreme figure of Protestant orthodoxy in England, the Primate of the Anglican Church, borne dead through the street. Head and all, he is swathed in wrappings of yellow silk, the royal colour of conservative China.

Lastly, I see a woman demolishing a grave. Bit by bit she flings its pieces to the winds, that its place may be known no more.

I have called the foregoing a drama, but it is more. It is essentially a religious experience. In the depths of the unconscious there was a call, an urge towards newness of life, but it was far below consciousness. Before new life can be born, that which is moribund and dragging out a sickly existence, neither alive nor dead, must die and be buried, thus making room for the new. In Biblical language, the 'old man' must be put off, and the 'new man' put on. In analytical language, there is a child to be born. As the grain of wheat must be put into the earth before it can bring forth fruit, so the libido must sink into the great deep of the unconscious to find the treasure. Mythologically, it is expressed by the "night journey under the sea," by the rescue of the princess and the slaying of the giant; or by the death and resurrection of the God. The death must be of the infantility and all it implies; the treasure means balance, proportion, eternal life.

So my libido went down and left me half alive, a kind of derelict on the sea of life. Its return was as sudden as a resurrection. From utter misery I sprang at a bound into life, hope, joy, and all the blessings of vitality. It was only the entrance into consciousness which was sudden. The 'night journey' occupied five months, and the process going on underground was only revealed by the series of dreams which, in their entirety, I have called a drama.

CRITICAL NOTICE

National Welfare and National Decay. By WILLIAM MCDOUGALL, F.R.S., Professor of Psychology in Harvard University, Formerly Reader in Mental Philosophy in the University of Oxford. Methuen and Co., Ltd. London, 1921. pp. vii + 214. Price 6s.

McDougall has written a thoroughly stimulating, suggestive, alarming and uncomfortable book; and in so doing he has doubtless succeeded in his aim -this aim, it would seem, being to awaken us from our post-war complacency to a realization of the importance of a subject which, while it intimately concerns all peoples, is, in the opinion of the author, quite especially urgent for the British people at the present time, for whom it appears "to overshadow and dwarf every other that any man of science could propose for its consideration." McDougall's main thesis is (1) that the curve representing the rise and fall of powerful nations is a parabola-a long ascent, an almost flat summit and a steep decline, (2) that this rapid decline is due to the failure of the stock to produce an adequate number of individuals possessing the mental characteristics requisite for the maintenance of a high civilization (this failure being intensified and accelerated by the ever-increasing complexity of life brought about by civilization itself), (3) that our western civilization (especially as represented by the British and American nations) has very probably reached its climax and "may even now be sliding down the curve of decline," (4) that the only way of preventing or arresting this decline is by appropriate thought and action on eugenic lines.

In dealing with this sinister theme our author develops a wealth of argument, illustration and suggestive power which, even if it should fail to convince all his readers, will inevitably make them richer by many fruitful trains of thought in the fields both of psychology and of sociology. Treating its subject, as it does, from the psychological rather than from the more commonly adopted biological point of view, the book, in spite of its relatively modest size, undoubtedly constitutes a valuable addition to eugenic literature. Its attractive manner of exposition should also enable it to appeal to a larger circle of readers than that enjoyed by the majority of works of similar aim.

The book opens with an introductory chapter (the substance of which, the author tells us, was written some thirty years ago) entitled "The Island of Eugenia, the Phantasy of a Foolish Philosopher." This chapter is cast in the form of a dialogue between a "Practical Man," who is desirous of devoting to some philanthropic aim of permanent value the large fortune which his business ability has enabled him to amass, and a "Scientist," who outlines a scheme in the realization of which his friend's millions may be employed. This scheme consists in the foundation of a eugenic state-under British or American protection which will be recruited from the best existing stocks, which will provide the means of perpetuating and multiplying these stocks and which will send forth desirable individuals to help in the work of all portions of the world. In some cases these individuals will marry and settle down in their

new homes, thus helping to perpetuate their desirable qualities here also; but in the majority of cases Eugenians will, it is suggested, continue to regard Eugenia as their true home, where they will bring up their families and whither they will return when their work is over-much in the same way as the members of the Indian Civil Service, though performing services of inestimable value in a distant portion of the globe, have remained Englishmen in the fullest sense of the word; men whose wives have been English women, whose children have been educated in England and who themselves return to England when their years of service abroad have been completed.

In the next three chapters McDougall deals with the general importance of the mental aspect of eugenics and indicates, in the way we have already outlined, the danger that besets our civilization from the probable failure of the stock to produce a sufficient number of individuals capable of dealing with the ever-increasing complexity of a civilized environment, especially in view of the dysgenic influences in virtue of which our race tends to be constantly recruited from its less desirable members. Emphasis is laid here upon the experimental evidence showing that the white races are superior in intelligence to the Negro and that within the British and American population those of higher social status are (statistically) superior in this respect to those of lower status. With the exception of the considerations with regard to the conative significance of Mr Waugh's experiments, on "concentration of attention," which, as they stand, seem based on somewhat inadequate foundations (there seems to have been no full report of Mr Waugh's work before the author as he wrote), this evidence is probably sufficient to convince most unprejudiced readers of the transmissibility of intelligence or at any rate to awaken them to the vast interest and importance of the subject and of the desirability of gathering further data by experimental methods.

In Chapters IV and V our author approaches the more difficult but if anything more important question of the inheritance of character qualities. Starting from a consideration of the differences between northern and southern European art as presented by Mr A. Gehring in his Racial Contrasts, he goes on to suggest that the Nordic race (his admiration for which is evidently considerable) is distinguished from the Mediterranean race by being more curious, less sociable, more introvert, more inclined to divorce, less inclined to homicide, more self-assertive, more inclined to break away from authority (e.g. in politics and religion) and better suited for colonizing distant countries because of its greater curiosity and lesser sociability. The Alpine race which is preponderant in Germany-is, like the Mediterranean race, also distinguished by greater submissiveness-a trait that has played an important part in recent history, since the Junkers who have been the predominant military caste in modern Germany belong chiefly to the more self-assertive Nordic race.

These considerations are followed by a brief comparison between the Black and Red races in America. Whereas the former displays a marked power of adaptation to the conditions of western civilization, the latter will die rather than submit to such adaptation. These facts suggest that the Negro is characterized by a relatively high degree of extroversion, sociability and submissiveness, this latter being again a quality of particular historical importance.

Further considerations deal with the improvidence of primitive races. These races, McDougall suggests, are relatively lacking in the acquisitive impulse, an impulse which is, in his opinion, of the greatest importance for civilization (the neglect of which in communistic schemes makes the outlook

for such schemes hopeless, p. 131) and which probably tends to be developed among those who live in unproductive regions (the cold north in the case of the Nordic race, the desert in the case of the Semites).

These portions of the book are perhaps the most interesting of all from the point of view of the psychologist, and although the views put forward are admittedly provisional and tentative in character, they well deserve the serious attention of those who are interested in the question of racial mental differences and might well serve as working hypotheses for further research by more accurate methods. There is, however, one opinion advanced here with which it is more difficult to agree. Following apparently a suggestion of Jung's, McDougall says that "the famous theory of Freud...is a theory of the development and working of the mind which was evolved by a Jew who has studied chiefly Jewish patients; and it seems to appeal very strongly to Jews; many, perhaps the majority, of those physicians who accept it as a new gospel, a new revelation, are Jews. It looks as though this theory, which to me and to most men of my sort seems so strange, bizarre and fantastic, may be approximately true of the Jewish race" (p. 134). If, as seems to be the case, it is here implied that the theories of psycho-analysis hold good of the Jewish race but not of other races, it is, on a priori grounds, surely most unlikely that this can be true; and this unlikelihood is increased by the fact that in England, Switzerland and Holland, Freud's theories have now been corroborated on a very considerable scale by non-Jewish physicians working with non-Jewish patients, and by the further fact that these theories have been successfully applied to the explanation and elucidation of customs and beliefs of primitive peoples who are racially far removed from the Semites. These facts make it probable that the theories in question are true of all human races (or else of none at all).

The conclusion of Chapter V is devoted to the contention that "the innate basis of the mind may be far richer and more complex than is commonly assumed by the psychologists." This contention is supported by the consideration of Jung's "archetypes"; of the probable insufficiency of the NeoDarwinian principle of the non-inheritance of acquired characters to account for the existing phenomena in the mental field; of the popular opinion in favour of a larger influence of heredity than is admitted by the Neo-Darwinians; of Freud's "primal phantasies," which the latter investigator is inclined to regard as a phylogenetic possession; of children's interest in objects (bears, ghosts, caves, etc.) which interested adults in the earlier history of the race; of the probable hereditary nature of the moral sentiments in children (which seem to be lacking in cases of moral imbecility and which may be brought into connection with racial differences in truthfulness, chastity, etc.); lastly, of the supposed fact that the blending of widely dissimilar races may produce individuals who are "seriously defective in some obscure and ill-defined way." "All these vague lines of evidence" point, it is suggested, to the conclusion that "on both moral and intellectual sides the innate potentialities are richer, more various, and more specific than can be described in terms of degrees of intelligence and degrees of strength of the several instinctive impulses. Just as that peculiarity which enables a man to become a great mathematician (or a great musician) is certainly innate and hereditary, though we cannot define or conceive in what this hereditary basis consists, so also the development of the highest moral character only proceeds upon the basis of a hitherto undefined innate and hereditary peculiarity."

"This undefined innate basis of moral character is perhaps of all innate qualities the most valuable possession of any human stock. It is the innate basis of a quality which we may best name trustworthiness. This quality is no simple unit; it cannot be ascribed to the operation of any one instinct; and, though it implies intelligence, it is not closely correlated with high intelligence. In respect of this complex and vaguely defined quality, races and peoples seem to differ widely. Without its presence in a high degree, no people can achieve or sustain a high level of civilization" (p. 139).

The degree and nature of the correlation between this hypothetical 'trustworthiness' and intelligence is important not only theoretically but also practically, since experimental psychology enables us to measure intelligence with much greater accuracy and convenience than the moral qualities. Evidence from Professor Terman (Intelligence of School Children) and from Mr H. V. Race (Journal of Educational Psychology, 1918) is quoted in favour of the existence of a positive correlation. It is surprising that McDougall does not quote the at least equally definite evidence from the striking research of Dr E. Webb (Character and Intelligence, Brit. J. of Psychology Monograph Supplements, Vol. 1), which is particularly interesting in connection with the above quoted passage, as affording evidence both as to the existence and nature of the supposed moral quality of 'trustworthiness' (Webb's 'W') and as to the degree of its correlation with intelligence. As regards the former point, readers of this Journal will remember that Dr Webb claims to have shown the existence of a general character quality seeming to depend upon the degree of the 'persistence of motives'-a character quality which would appear to agree closely with McDougall's 'trustworthiness.' As regards the correlation of this quality with intelligence, we find that 'kindness on principle,' 'trustworthiness,' 'conscientiousness,' 'tendency to work with distant objects in view,' 'tendency not to desist from obstacles,' 'tendency not to desist from changeability' and 'mental work in usual studies' all correlate positively (though not very highly) with intelligence, the average correlation being about +37; while qualities which would be opposed to trustworthiness, such as 'quick oscillation of feeling,' 'liability to extreme depression,' 'liability to extreme anger,' 'impulsive kindness,' and 'readiness to become angry,' correlate, the first two negatively, the others not at all, with intelligence (op. cit. p. 43). This evidence affords useful support of McDougall's contention of the existence and importance of 'trustworthiness' and of its positive correlation with intelligence; though it would appear that the degree of this correlation is not sufficient for it to be measured satisfactorily by means of intelligence tests.

In his final chapter (Chapter VI) McDougall returns to the consideration of the influence of innate racial qualities on national life. He maintains that under civilization racial qualities tend to deteriorate-possibly to some extent owing to the influence of reversion and the transmission of acquired characters, but certainly owing to the influence of reversed selection. The beneficial effects of Natural and Sexual selection are largely abolished by civilization and in their places we have the destruction of the most desirable members of the community by war and their relative sterilization as the result of the attraction of the best country stocks to the towns and of the operation of the social ladder. The latter mechanism, though of itself extremely useful as a means of utilizing for the benefit of the community individual ability in whatsoever social stratum it may appear, "tends to concentrate the valuable qualities of the

« 上一頁繼續 »